On June 22, 2018, Goodwin Harrison Management arranged for a civil engineering firm to inspect the drainage ditches at the front of each lot within the Quail Creek Subdivision. At that time, the primary area of concern was along the East side of Pheasant Hill. Several lots had standing water issues and Goodwin Harrison volunteered to initiate the inspection at no charge to the HOA.

The inspection report was emailed to the Homeowners on October 19th and discussed during the October 22nd HOA Regular Board Meeting. Although the report from SBSA included a bid for a grading and drainage plan for those lots of concern on Pheasant Hill, no scope of work was authorized, nor funds allocated by the HOA. This report may have been misleading to some homeowners that understood the HOA was going to pay for drainage repairs on those lots. The HOA is not responsible for maintaining the drainage ditch on each homeowner’s property. The CCR’s define the responsibility of each homeowner to maintain and repair the ditches to allow for unimpeded water flow throughout the neighborhood.

There has also been some question as to ownership of the drainage ditch (often referred to as an easement). As noted on the neighborhood plat, filed with Rockwall County, each lot runs to the street. Therefore, the drainage ditch is part of the owner’s lot. Some lots along the South side of Quail Creek, the South and East sides of Partridge Drive and the North and West sides of Pheasant Hill have a 15 ft. water line at the front of their property. Those lots would be subject to an easement to the water company. CLICK HERE to view the CC&R’s (a copy of the plat that is located on pages 27-29).

The unusually heavy rains this fall have made the drainage situation more prevalent and therefor the need for each homeowner to assess their lot more important. If you have water standing in your ditch, the Board asks that it be addressed and repaired according to Section 7.12 and 9.2 of the CCR’s. Also, be aware that if your neighbor has standing water, it may be because your lot is impeding their water flow, and this should also be addressed and repaired.

Warm weather will be here before we know it! Standing water is a magnet for mosquitos… Let’s all do our part to work together to keep our drainage ditches clean, flowing and free of standing water!

The amended governing documents that were approved by vote of the Homeowners were recorded with the Rockwall County today, which means that they are now valid & enforceable. Homeowners will be receiving paper copies of these documents within sixty (60) days.

During tonight’s Board meeting, the votes in the Ballot Initiative were tallied and recorded resulting in at least sixty-seven percent (67%) of all homeowners in Quail Creek approving all amendments to the CC&Rs (Initiative #1) except for Amendments to Articles 4.8b, 4.8h, & 8.2. Seventy-one percent (71%) of homeowners also approved the newly amended Bylaws (Initiative #2). The amendment loosening the garbage can restriction (Initiative #3A) passed with sixty-nine percent (69%) support and the amendment to loosen the restriction on signs (Initiative 3B) also passed, capturing seventy-five percent (75%).

However, sixty-seven percent (67%) of homeowners rejected the amendment loosening the trailer restriction (Initiative #3C), where it garnered just thirty-three percent (33%), or one-third(1/3) homeowner support. Of the sixty-seven percent, twenty-seven percent (27%) voted to tighten the restriction with the rest preferring to keep the restriction as is. What is clear from the vote is that the overwhelming majority of homeowners do not support the storage of trailers in Quail Creek.

State law dictates that for any amendment to a declaration to pass it must have 67% approval of all homeowners (not those who vote, but all homeowners). Therefore, anyone that did not submit a ballot effectively voted to reject the amendments being proposed.

Remarkably, sixty-one out of the sixty-nine eligible members of the Association participated in this initiative including eleven of the twelve homeowners in Phase 1!

As part of the effort to protect and ensure the integrity of the process to tally the vote, all ballots were scanned & digitized. Only the voter signature pages (that include the homeowner’s name and ballot ID number) will be kept from distribution (both the digital files & hard copies of these signature pages will be kept on file indefinitely).

The Board hopes to have the revised CC&Rs & Bylaws recorded with Rockwall County by the end of next week, which will make the instruments official. Copies of the newly amended CC&Rs & Bylaws will be distributed to Homeowners soon. They will also be made available to homeowners on the “HOA Records” page on the HOA website.

Dr. Clayton Christensen highlights (in this short (1:39) video) the catalytic impact of religion in America to provide order. He argues that as Americans abandon their faith, so too is the rule of law.

As in society today, most in our neighborhood abide by the “Covenants” voluntarily, not for fear of a Board that may enforce, but because their faith drives them to live in ways that demonstrates love & respect to neighbors.

Quail Creek’s system of governance by a Board comprised of neighbors, elected by neighbors, is established on the expectations that homeowners desire to live within the constraints of established written guidelines, memorialized formally at closing, by signing a “covenant,” or promise. When it comes to these agreed and established guidelines then, the fundamental purpose of a governing body is simply to hold one another accountable to promises made, not to deny or suppress the rights of anyone.

For a Board to deny a person’s rights would mean that the homeowner never signed the governing instruments. That someone may not have read, or fully understood the promises made upon signing is inconsequential to their responsibility to abide by the guidelines. Therefore, when it violates its fiduciary duties by failing to uphold the governing documents, the Board denies and suppresses the rights of the majority in favor of the minority.

Following the logic of Dr. Christensen, that someone may insinuate that a governing instrument of the Association is somehow invalid &/or unenforceable, or argue that others are not held to account, would make little difference to a person of faith as a promise made is a promise kept.

Despite Christensen’s assertion that faith makes a difference in voluntary conformity of law, or in our case, “restrictions,” people of faith can still act defiantly by disregarding their promises made. Whenever this happens, a homeowner is exhibiting disrespect and contempt to neighbors and for the guidelines that they committed to uphold. Greater still, disregard for these promises can often communicate a great deal about a person’s faith or belief in, and about, God.

A “covenant” is an agreement or promise by one to another. Originally derived from the Bible, it is one of the oldest historical terms of legal validity known to exist whereupon it reflects a one-sided promise that is irrespective of what others may do. The CC&Rs, technically, Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions, is a homeowner’s promise to live by certain standards for the benefit of the neighborhood.

Some have argued over the seeming unfairness that some were granted the right, through a variance, to violate certain restrictions and because of that have stipulated that they too are rightfully deserving of a variance How a neighbor may or may not abide by the Covenants doesn’t change our responsibility to comply, however.

That we may take exception with one or many of the restrictions contained in the governing documents does not change the fact that we, by signing the document at the time of purchase, agreed to uphold our responsibility to abide by them, which include any and all amendments.

The 2011 Texas Legislature enacted major changes to the Texas Property Code, especially as it relates to HOA’s. These changes, most of which went into effect on January 1, 2012, have had a dramatic impact on Quail Creek and the manner in which we are governed. These changes have been highlighted in the attached document.

Do your HOA’s board members patrol the grounds with a cautcha-breakin’-the-rules mentality? One Michigan HOA resident thinks hers do.

She recently revealed that her HOA’s board members routinely cruise the grounds in golf carts noting minor breaches of the HOA’s rules. In her case, she was sent a note that the dog waste bag she’d set outside her garage (until she could remember to access the garage–and thus her garbage bin–through her unit) needed to be removed. Sure, she was probably breaking a rule for a few hours. But was it really necessary to send her a note?

Here, our experts explain whether boards can be too punctilious, irritating good neighbors and even pushing those owners away from volunteering and participating in HOA governance. We also offer tips on knowing when to mention violations and when to give owners time to correct the violations themselves.

When Vigilance Turns into Pickiness

“Overregulating is just as bad as not enforcing your governing documents,” explains Robert M. DeNichilo, an attorney at DeNichilo & Lindsley LLP in Irvine, Calif., who specializes in representing community associations. “Enforcement has to be reasonable. Is it reasonable to not give someone a chance to rectify a situation before you’re immediately on them?”

Violations are violations, right? So why shouldn’t you just kick out violation notice after violation notice if you see even a minor infraction? That can dampen community spirit. “It fosters the negative image that many people have of HOAs because they’re overregulated,” says DeNichilo. “HOAs are supposed to be preserving and maintaining property values. The whole goal is to make it a nice place to live. By overregulating, boards aren’t doing that. That’s why it falls into the category of unreasonable enforcement of CC&Rs.”

Of course, your board has to be aware of violations. “I think it’s good to be vigilant, but you can certainly take it too far,” agrees Matthew A. Drewes, a partner at Thomsen & Nybeck PA in Edina, Minn., who represents associations. “It’s a reasonable concern for an association or board to make sure they’re not allowing violations to go unchecked for lengthy periods of time and making sure there aren’t noxious or harmful things being left untended.”

The answer may be to make your inspections routine and expected. “We always encourage boards to do routine, community-wide inspections, unless they’re responding to some kind of complaint or concern,” says J. Roger Wood, an attorney with Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Wood PLC in Tucson, Ariz., who specializes in representing community associations. “In some communities it’s every six weeks. I have others that are more fastidious. But I don’t have any concerns about the golf cart drive-by as long as it’s what the community is expecting. Some HOAs are very strict. Obviously, when you’re driving by every day, there are going to be more letters. You’re going to catch people before they have a chance to do anything about the problem, and that’s frustrating to owners.”

How to Handle Violations

You can’t ignore owners’ violations. But are there instances in which you can give owners a little time to fix the problem? “The HOA is charged with enforcing the CC&Rs, and it has to enforce them equitably and consistently,” agrees DeNichilo. “So your actions depend on the violation. Everything goes back to being reasonable. Bagged dog poop left out is very different from someone who hasn’t sought approval starting a home construction project. One you have to act immediately on. But the other, is it really worth spending on the violation? If it hasn’t happened before, do you really need to send a letter?”

Drewes agrees that there are gradations of violations. “If there’s a violation that’s not dangerous or likely to cause panic in the streets and chaos to ensue–and the owner appears otherwise to be a law-abiding citizen–reason may say you may get away with giving them time to cure. Or you may knock on their door or call them.

“Sometimes people get a little defensive because the board is contacting them,” adds Drewes. “I had a situation where the board sent out a preemptive letter to six home owners who happened to have units on a street where there was no parking because the street’s on a tricky curve. One of those owners has had problems with the board in the past and immediately assumed she was being singled out. There will be those misunderstandings, and the best you can do is to try to be reasonable and send a nonthreatnening communication. It might say, ‘I noticed that… Please let us know if there was a reason or problem that led to that situation because we don’t want to run into complaints about it.'”

But you can’t ignore violations because you don’t want allegations that you’ve waived enforcement or you’re treating owners differently. “My advice is not to disregard violations that are brought to your attention,” says Drewes. “Think about whether they need to be addressed. What HOAs are specifically worried about is waiver. In Minnesota, that’s the voluntary relinquishment of a known right. Your behavior should be at least adequate to show that you’re not conceding a violation is OK.

“Maybe it’s OK if it’s something that occurs temporarily, but then you have to be cognizant of the fact that another owner might see the violation occurring or react negatively, thinking another owner is getting a break they didn’t or conclude they don’t have to comply with the rule themselves,” adds Drewes. “If you don’t have any written record that you followed up on the violation, you’re subject to the argument that you communicated it was OK or failed to communicate that it wasn’t OK. The argument will be that Joe got a letter, but Sally didn’t, and they’re treating Joe differently because of some protected classification. A well-meaning treatment of a violation can land an HOA in a tough spot.”

Drewes is dealing with a potential violation issue right now. “It’s a 55-and-over community, and the declaration says no children under 18 may stay more than 30 days in a calendar year,” he explains. “Nobody’s standing at the door checking names and days on the calendar to make sure it’s exactly 30 days. But the HOA does need to pay attention.”

Explain Your Violation Process

Be sure any notices you provide also explain the entire process of hearings and fines. “If you’re doing routine inspections, you should have an enforcement process to go with it so owners know what’s going to happen,” says Wood. “A knee-jerk board fining owners for thousands of dollars of violations before it gives owners a chance to cure–that’s a problem.

“Be courteous in giving people time to correct the problem so they know the first violation isn’t the death knell,” adds Wood. “If you’re inspecting regularly, the letters have to be equally friendly, saying something like, ‘We’ll come back in another three weeks, and it’ll probably be fixed by then.’ You’ll always catch people after the infraction if you’re doing routine inspections. What happens in that next step is where boards run afoul of the law and courtesy to their neighbors.”

Also remember that you’re not an HOA czar. “Sometimes board members think being a director gives them powers,” says DeNichilo. “But the source of the board’s power comes from acting together. When board members are walking around and spotting violations, they should report them to management just like any other home owner would. Then the board would get together and review them to determine whether to send violation notices.”

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About Quail Creek

Quail Creek is a subdivision in McLendon Chisholm Texas, in Rockwall County made up of sixty-nine, one to three acre homesteads, divided into two phases of development.

Board Meetings

The Quail Creek Board of Directors meets on the second Monday of every month. All homeowners are welcome to attend. Anyone interested in being added to the agenda for a Board meeting must send a request at least five days before the meeting to hoa@quailcreekrockwall.org.